1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved data processing system and in particular to a method and apparatus for processing documents. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for selecting a browser window for new documents.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet, also referred to as an “internetwork”, is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from a protocol of the sending network to a protocol used by the receiving network. When capitalized, the term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies which must interact with virtually all segments of society such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state. Providing informational guides and/or searchable databases of online public records may reduce operating costs. Further, the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for commercial transactions.
Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, also called simply “the Web”. Other Internet resources exist for transferring information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transaction using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files (e.g., text, still graphic images, audio, motion video, etc.).
The information in various data files is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In addition to basic presentation formatting, HTML allows developers to specify “links” to other Web resources identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A URL is a special syntax identifier defining a communications path to specific information. Each logical block of information accessible to a client, called a “page” or a “Web page”, is identified by a URL. The URL provides a universal, consistent method for finding and accessing this information, not necessarily for the user, but mostly for the user's Web “browser”. A browser is a program capable of submitting a request for information identified by an identifier, such as, for example, a URL. A user may enter a domain name through a graphical user interface (GUI) for the browser to access a source of content. The domain name is automatically converted to the Internet Protocol (IP) address by a domain name system (DNS), which is a service that translates the symbolic name entered by the user into an IP address by looking up the domain name in a database.
Oftentimes, a user may open multiple browser windows. These browser windows contain different Web pages or documents. The user may desire these windows to remain open based on reading or research being performed by the user. For example, if a user is reading a tutorial, the user may wish to have the table of contents in one browser window with other documents opened up in other browser windows. If a user selects a link or hyperlink on a Web page, the browser may open a new window to open the new page. Alternatively, the new page may be opened in the current window. Also, the document may be opened in one of the already opened windows. Presently, the user is unable to control which window is selected to open the document if the browser opens the document in another browser window that is already opened without dragging the mouse pointer to another window. If the user is using multiple browser windows, the user may want to overwrite one particular window, rather than the one selected by the browser program.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for maintaining browser navigation relationships and choosing a browser window for new Web pages or documents.